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Decorating Cut-Out Sugar Cookies — Flowers & Butterflies

I spent about six hours today making sugar cookies and I. Am. Exhausted. Please forgive me if I’m not very talkative. I plan on falling into my bed as soon as I post this.

Tomorrow our church is hosting a community event and I volunteered to bring cookies. Rather than make some simple, delicious drop cookies, I opted for the more labor-intensive cut outs. My theory was I could keep some aside for the party on Monday.

I’ve never really put much effort into creating beautifully decorated sugar cookies. I’m more of a slap-the-frosting-on-the-cookie-and-be-done-with-it kind of gal. It all tastes the same in the end, right? This occasion is different, though, and I wanted to make them look as nice as possible.

I did some searching online for tips on how to ice cookies and came across this tutorial. The method I used is called “flooding.”

First, I outlined the cookies in thick white icing that I made from powdered sugar, milk, corn syrup and some lemon extract. I also put lemon zest in the cookies, thinking the lemon flavor would add a nice Spring-y touch.

The icing I used to outline the first bunch of cookies was too thin. As a result, it dripped down the sides of the cookies. It may not look as nice, but it still got the job done in the end.

After outlining all the cookies, I thinned the icing a little, divided it between three bowls and tinted it with Wilton gel icing coloring. Then I used a spoon to pour the colored icing on the cookies and spread it to the outlined edges with a toothpick.

After using the same three colors over and over again, I wished that I had more variety. Violet didn’t seem to mind, though. She always is gracious enough to perform quality control for me.

“Happy” does not begin to describe how I felt when I filled that last cookie in with icing. “Relief” might be closer to the truth. It was well past Violet’s bedtime, but now it’s done and I have these lovely treats to show for my long day.

I hope the kiddies from church enjoy them. If Violet is any indication, these suckers are going to disappear fast!

How about you? What do you have up your sleeve for the coming weekend? Whatever you have planned, I hope you have a good one!

Not bad for someone who was worrying so much about it earlier in the day, huh? I know with practice I will get better and better. It would also help if I made the cookies one day and decorated them the next. I’m still tired!